


The final cycle

by Cipherian



Category: Persona 5
Genre: Fluff and Angst, Gen, Persona 5 Protagonist Has A Palace, Persona 5 Protagonist is from Inaba, Persona 5 Spoilers
Language: English
Status: In-Progress
Published: 2019-11-17
Updated: 2019-11-17
Packaged: 2021-02-08 04:46:56
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: Creator Chose Not To Use Archive Warnings
Chapters: 1
Words: 1,923
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/21470278
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/Cipherian/pseuds/Cipherian
Summary: How long has it been since Ren first stepped foot in Leblanc?How many times has Ren and his band of loyal friends and thieves freed the oppressed?How many times has Ren awoken in Leblanc, as soon as he gets home?How long will this go on for?How long will it last?How long will he last?All questions Ren wonders on a daily basis. But what can you do if you're stuck in an endless cycle?Maybe this time, it'll let him go home for good. Just maybe.
Relationships: Amamiya Ren & Phantom Thieves of Hearts
Comments: 1
Kudos: 61





	The final cycle

**Author's Note:**

> First fanfiction!!! Oh yeah! Exciting times!!
> 
> Also, speech with all italics mean thoughts!
> 
> Enjoy, and thank you!

"This is bullshit."

Those were the first words Ren had uttered when he awoke yet again in the attic of Leblanc.

He'd just gotten back home in Inaba, said goodbye to his fellow thieves and sooner or later, went to sleep at the insistence of Morgana.

But now he's here. In Leblanc.

"How many times do I have to go through your game Yaldabaoth?!"

"Hey." Sojiro had came upstairs. "What the hell was that yelling all about?"

_"Shit, did I say that out loud?"_ Ren thought. "Nothing sir, just a startling dream."

"Right." That seemed to have appeased him for now. "Make sure you're ready soon. I'm going to take you down to Shujin by car and you don't want to be late."

"Yes sir."

Sojiro went downstairs. Leaving Ren alone in the attic.

_"So, waking up on the same day as always huh? Just gotta keep my head down and do the same thing again. It's showtime."_

And so, the game began again. He planned to do everything he did the last few times around.

Although, this time, he just might be able to save as many people as possible. Starting by stopping one horrible event in Shujin Academy.

\--Several days later--

_"Tomorrow's the day. I have to stop her."_  
"Hey Ryuji, can you do me a favour?"

Walking beside Ren to the train station, was his best friend throughout every time the game was reset. Although Ryuji never remembered unlike Ren, he was still happy with him.

"Sure man! What'cha need?"

"So, I noticed that Takamaki-san has been looking a bit more… worried lately in lessons and I think I might be late tomorrow, could you keep an eye on her?" Asked Ren, turning to face Ryuji.

"What, you got a crush on her or somethin'?" Teased Ryuji, giving Ren a quizzical look in return.

"It's not like that, she's been pretty nice to me since I arrived here. I'm just worried about her is all."

Ryuji sighed. "Well, I mean we're not exactly on speaking terms, things are a little weird between us but… I can't exactly say no to someone like you, man."

Ren beamed at him. Giving him a big smile in response.

"Thanks Ryuji, I knew I could count on you."

"Yeah! Course you can! But, make sure you look after yourself though Ren, I know some caring types put others before themselves. At least… in my experience anyway- does that make sense?"

He nodded back. "Yeah. I will, don't worry."

Their conversations after that, were about Kamoshida's palace.

It wasn't long until the next day came.

Ren wasn't late at all. However, he was early. Upon arrival, he dashed up the stairs to the roof and sat down on one of the old chairs up there that Ryuji usually sat on during a Phantom Thief meeting. All he had to do now was wait. 

And wait he did. For a few hours.

**Click!**

Ren turned his head at the sound of the rooftop doors opening, revealing a somber and unstable Shiho Suzui.

"Hey, Suzui-san right?"

Shiho let out a tiny noise of surprise and turned to look at Ren.

"Oh, it's you, Amamiya-kun." She gave a small smile, laced with sadness. "What're you doing up here?"

"What are you doing up here, Suzui-san?"

"I-I can't do this anymore." She choked out as small tears trailed down her face. "No one cares, but they all know. And I want… I want out. I don't want to do this anymore." She started walking towards the edge of the building, before Ren shot up and approached her.

"You're not about to do what I think you're about to do, are you?"

"Please… stop. I just want all of this pain, this a-agony to end." She barely quickened her pace.

"You're going to regret this decision Suzui-san! Think of Ann, she'll be heartbroken, there'll be no-one she can call her best friend anymore! You can't do this, there is another way- I _know_ there is." Ren took a step forward, ready to dash forward if needed.

She turned her head to look at Ren."Ann… Amamiya-kun? Tell her I'm sorry, please. I want this to end." She turned back around, facing forward and seeing the crowd of people below her. Slowly, she started tilting forwards.

_"It's now or never! Like hell I'm letting this happen!"_

In an instant, Ren dashed forward to grab onto Shiho, just as she was about to plummet down three stories to her potential death. It became clear then just how unstable she really was at that time.

"H-huh? Amamiya-kun? What're you doing?! Please let go, I need this pain, a-all of this, to end. Let _go_ of me! Let me go! **Please!**" She begged, clawing at Ren's arms and hands, locked securely around her to prevent her from falling. He stayed silent however, allowing Shiho to continue begging for him to release her.

_"I am so glad the results from my workouts and training from my previous attempts haven't gone away… and I'm glad these uniforms are so thick, she'd probably be scratching away my skin at this point."_

He kept hold of her long enough for her to get exhausted and calm down, by then Ren had pulled her back up to the roof and gently placed her on the chair he was previously sitting on. It didn't take long for Shiho to continue crying, or for Ann to burst through the rooftop doors.

"Shiho!" Cried Ann. "Oh my god, are you okay? Who did this to you?" She hurried towards Shiho, checking over her.

Shiho opened her eyes, puffy and red from how much she had been crying. "Ann?" Her voice was low and hoarse but still had her usual gentle undertone to it. "Ann, I'm so sorry."

Blue eyes met brown eyes as Ann looked at Shiho. "It's okay Shiho. You're okay now. I won't let anything else hurt you, I swear." She declared to her. "But why? Why did you choose to do this, Shiho?"

"K-Kamoshida… he…!" Before she could finish, she started crying tears she didn't know she had left.

"What did he do to you…?" Ann wondered aloud as she held Shiho. "Hey, Amamiya-kun, right?"

Ren turned to look at Ann. "That's me, Takamaki-san."

"Thank you, so much. If you hadn't been here she could've died, I don't know what I would've done if she had died. There's no-one else who understands me like her. I-" she was cut off by Ren.

"Hey, it's okay now. She's not dead or dying, she didn't fall. Don't think about that. That didn't happen."  
_"Not this time thankfully…"_

"You're right. Thank you, Amamiya-kun." Ann then looked directly at Ren. "So, why were you up here and not in class?"

_"Well shit."_  
"I needed some air."

"For almost an hour? No one in class had seen you today, and Ryuji wasn't late either. He walked in alone. And even he didn't see you.

"Yes, I needed air for almost an hour."

"Well… you did save Shiho, so I guess I shouldn't really be asking."

"Takamaki-san, I'd tell you, but I don't exactly know you well enough to tell you."  
_"That hurts to say…"_

She sighed. "I guess so. Thank you again. I'll never be able to pay you back."

"It's okay, Takamaki-san. I'll give you two some time together."

With that, he left the two girls alone on the roof and began walking downstairs to his class.

"It's him…"  
"What did the transfer student do up there?"  
"Did he cause this?"  
"What's going on?"  
"I'm glad she didn't fall though…"

Whispers and gossip about Ren and Shiho flooded the halls. Before he could reach his class however, a familiar blond started to call him.

"Yo, Ren! Ren!" Turning his head at the sound of his name being called, he saw Ryuji walking over to him. "What the hell was that, man?! Why were you up there? Why did she almost fall?"

"Ryuji, I'll tell you everything when we meet at that alley after school. We're going back in Kamoshida's palace." Replied Ren.

"Sure. I'll be there Ren!"

The school day ended earlier than usual. Everyone was told over the intercom to go home and stay safe. This of course just gave Ren, Ryuji and Morgana more time to infiltrate.

"So Ren. About what happened today on the roof." Began Ryuji, leaning against the alley wall. "Why were you up there?"

_"Shit."_  
"When I came in, I wasn't feeling too well. I needed some air and peace to myself, so I went up to the roof for a little bit."

"Are you still unwell Ren?" Meowed Morgana, from Ren's bag. "If you're not up to it, there's always tomorrow. A phantom thief needs to be in top form to infiltrate palaces!"

Ren smiled down at Morgana. "Yeah, I'm doing better. Thanks for worrying about me you two." He paused. "And… she jumped because of Kamoshida."

"That bastard! I'm gonna kill him!" Seethed Ryuji. "What are we waiting for? Let's go."

"Save that anger for the palace Ryuji. If we can get through it, we'll be able to change him." Advised Morgana, looking over Ren's shoulder to look at Ryuji.

Then. Several things happened at once.

Ann arrived. "Hey… Amamiya-kun?"  
Ren activated the meta-nav.  
Finally, they accidentally dragged Ann into Kamoshida's palace.

"Shit."

"Hey, what the fuck is going on, Amamiya-kun?"

"Takamaki-san?"

"Woah…"

Ann stepped forwards. "So, uh, woah. Uhm, what the hell is going on here? Why is there a castle? And what's with the clothes?"

Morgana, Ryuji and Ren looked at each other.

"Hey, lady? It's too dangerous to be here. You should leave." Morgana told Ann.

"Dangerous?! A talking… cat thing? What the hell…?"

"I am not a cat! All this noise will get us noticed by the shadows inside the castle. You have to leave.” insisted Morgana.

"Huh?! I just wanted to talk to Amamiya-kun."

"I'll take you out of here, and then we can talk." Ren approached Ann and activated the Meta-nav. Then the world returned to normal, leaving Ryuji and Morgana in the metaverse. "So, what is it you wanted to talk about?"

Ann was looking around, confused. "How- weren't we just- huh?! Amamiya-kun, what's going on?"

"You wanted to talk to me, right?" Ren nonchalantly dodged Ann's questioning about her first metaverse experience.

"Well, yeah. But what the hell was that?! A castle, you and Sakamoto-kun were dressed in weird clothes with masks and there was some cat thing there!" Ann sighed. "I'm so confused."

"I'd tell you about it Takamaki-san, but it's a dangerous place. I'm not going to pretend like you didn't see anything, but it is dangerous. Now, what was it you wanted to talk to me about?"

"Well… I wanted to see if you were okay. Shiho's been admitted to a hospital to check if everything's alright with her. I can't thank you enough for saving her."

_"Still the same kind hearted girl I know."_  
"Other than maybe a scratch or two, I'm fine. Though, that was horrible to witness…"

"Yeah, thank you again Amamiya-kun."

"No problem Takamaki-san. Anything else?"

Ann thought for a moment, but in the end decided on a "No, I'm good. See you around!"

Once Ann had left, Ren re-entered the metaverse, greeted his fellow thieves and set off on a journey to steal the heart of Kamoshida.

The rest of this chapter in the story of the Phantom Thieves, is history.

_"Now, what's next that I need to fix...?"_


End file.
